


The Experiment

by jadenmd (taboonalady)



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Friendship/Love, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-03
Updated: 2010-04-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:27:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23024746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taboonalady/pseuds/jadenmd
Summary: Nino becomes curious why Sho feels the need to take care of other people and decides to try the hypothesis himself.
Relationships: Ninomiya Kazunari/Sakurai Sho
Kudos: 1





	The Experiment

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted for a contest over at [shoneenclub comm on LJ](https://shoneenclub.livejournal.com/), called "Kiss Me, I'm Japanese". Crossposted from LJ, edited for better language usage.

The way Sho always took care of him annoyed Nino often. Being under the care of his mother and his sister when he was little, Nino thought that joining an agency that only employed male talents would somehow make a huge difference in the way he had been treated. Sure, Nino admitted to being immature and childish at times, but that was not an excuse for anyone to treat him like a kid. He was not a little boy anymore (although, arguably he might still look like one), and Sho always opposed that notion indubitably.  
  
Notably, it had always been, “Have you eaten?” and whatever answer Nino gave, Sho would still manage to come up with a word of advice Nino had already seen on TV when the Discovery Channel was on. If he replied with “No”, surely there would be a string of lectures from Sho, telling the younger man to eat more or “risk the chance of collapsing on an empty street where no one could find him”. After such a lengthy sermon, Sho would offer him something to eat – if Nino was lucky (in his terms at least), Sho would even offer to pay for it _entirely_ – and then watch over him for the next few hours or so. If he dared to say “I will later”, Sho would look after him all day, mostly offering Nino his own lunch or dinner, until he gave in and would finally decide to eat what was offered to him. Most ironic of all, even if Nino answered with a “Yes”, Sho still asked him further the details of his meal (the what, when, where and so on). Before Nino knew of that pattern, he had had an impression that if he went for the safest answer, _even if it had not been exactly the truth_ , Sho would be satisfied with it and moved on. Realizing that either way he would most likely get to waste his time ( _equally_ ) listening to Sho, Nino decided it was better to just tell the truth.  
  
He also realized another thing: To Nino, Sho was probably the worst kind of mother-hen there was.  
  
It was hard for Nino to understand why Sho cared this much about other people, why he even _liked_ taking care of people. Being the eldest son in the family did not explain it – Aiba was the eldest son in the family but he still acted like he needed to be taken care of all the time, especially when he’s in such high spirits that there’s a big chance he would knock everything around him down, even people.  
  
But somehow, Nino supposed he knew why.  
  
He could tell with how the way Sho asked Ohno about his fishing, Jun about his other endeavors besides Arashi, Aiba about Shimura Doubutsen, and Nino about his acting jobs (or eating habits) that Sho had this _need_ of taking care of other people because he wanted to be taken care of himself. He had proven it one time when Sho kept whining about how his mom had forgotten to make him breakfast that morning.  
  
“Oi, Nino,” Sho entered the dressing room determinedly. Despite his almost always perfect appearance, his mood seemed to be otherwise. “What did you eat for breakfast?”  
  
“That’s amazing, Sho-chan,” Nino relaxed in his slouching position on the couch, his arm resting on Ohno’s shoulder. “You can still ask with concern when you’re clearly messed up today. Good morning, by the way.”  
  
“Is there something wrong?” asked Ohno, now having that worried look on his face.  
  
“A lot,” Sho breathed out almost helplessly. “Nino, you haven’t answered my question yet.”  
  
Nino had thought at the time to answer in a safe way. It would probably be hard to deal with a cranky Sakurai. “Ramen I bought from the convenience store.”  
  
“MatsuJun,” Sho suddenly turned to the youngest member, who was reading a novel, sitting in front of the mirrors. “What time will the shooting start again?”  
  
“An hour from now Sho-chan!” Aiba, who was noticeably standing by the door when Sho had entered, answered for Jun. “Why are you asking?”  
  
“Hmm. Okay, come with me.” Ignoring Aiba’s inquiry, Sho beckoned Nino. “Let’s go to that meal ticket restaurant. There are not a lot of open stores right now but I’m sure we’re going to find one near here.”  
  
“But I already ate!” Nino protested, then murmured, “At least I _ate_.”  
  
“That’s never enough, now let’s go.” Sho beckoned again, this time looking nowhere in particular. It was probably obvious already that he was a little irritated, and no one wanted to deal with an irritated Sakurai either.  
  
Nino sighed, thinking there might be a reason why Sho particularly invited _him_ instead of Ohno. (Nino completely believed that Ohno would be a better food buddy to Sho than he would ever try to be.) He decided to just go along with it... for now. “Ugh, fine,” Nino then stood up, rather lazily, and followed Sho out the dressing room.  
  
After a few minutes of walking, the two of them reached the restaurant, punched on the meal ticket machine two omurice meals (Nino did not really want to eat anymore, but given Sho’s mood that day, he might as well go along with what Sho wanted) and sat on the most obscure part of the restaurant.  
  
“Sho-chan,” Nino began, since they had not exactly spoken ever since they left the TV station. “What’s wrong? You’ve been awfully irritable this morning. I am worried, you know.”  
  
“Stop using that sweet tone, Ninomiya,” Sho threatened, though it lacked the intention to intimidate Nino as the older man was looking somewhere outside the restaurant. “It sounds fake and it annoys me.”  
  
“You’ve never been annoyed by my ‘fakeness’,” Nino continued with the said sweet tone, very mockingly. “Although that’s hardly fake, to be honest. In fact, the concern was real, even if the way I said it didn’t seem that way.”  
  
Sho sighed. Of course Nino’s usual jest was not the reason he was annoyed. “My mother did not make me any breakfast this morning.”  
  
Despite being unintentional, Nino’s eyes automatically lit up and he genuinely smiled, covering his mouth with his hands as he tried ever so hard not to laugh, reducing that to little bursts of snickers.  
  
“It’s not funny!” Sho bleated. “And that’s not the only reason why I’m irritated anyway.”  
  
Nino raised an eyebrow. “Then what is?”  
  
“I attempted to make my own breakfast but then I burned my omelet _and then_ my toast. So I gave up and went to work instead.”  
  
Nino turned away from Sho in another attempt to suppress his laughter. “You’re such a failure, Sho-chan.”  
  
“I said it’s not funny!” Sho whined again, banging on the table with his two fists. “If I could make breakfast properly I would not have coercively dragged you here anyway.”  
  
“That is, if you could _make_ breakfast _at all_ ,” Nino rolled his eyes as their orders came, prompting Sho to blurt out “Shut up!” and somewhat embarrass himself in public (at least from the Keio boy’s point-of-view). “I have another question, though.”  
  
“What?” Sho took a spoonful of his omurice in his mouth afterwards.  
  
Nino couldn’t help it; he was too curious to pass it up. “You took me out here to eat breakfast with you because...?”  
  
Sho’s face painted surprise, like he had never anticipated this question, because the truth was, he was not aware why he had taken out Nino in particular either. The truth was, he had been oblivious as to whom he was taking with him and he might possibly have picked someone at random. The reason why it had been Nino and not Jun, Aiba or Ohno (or even his manager), he did not exactly know that.  
  
Nino merely stared at him, obviously waiting for an answer.  
  
“Why does it have to have a reason?” Sho asked almost sternly, as if being defensive. “You’re just the first person that came up to my mind, that’s all.”  
  
Nino scoffed, giving Sho a series of eyebrow flashes, “Am I really?”  
  
“I told you to stop mocking me with that sweet tone,” Sho furrowed his eyebrows to display his so-called annoyance.  
  
“I’m not that annoying, am I?” Nino further teased, blinking his eyelids rapidly so as to suggest pleading and, at the same time, cuteness.  
  
Sho did not want to mind whatever Nino was trying to make him do as he took one more bite, chewing momentarily, before sighing suddenly. “No, you’re not that annoying. And actually, I don’t know; it’s as if I feel better with you around. You make me worry less, especially when I’m in a bad mood like today.” Sho did not expect he would admit that.  
  
Nino scrunched his nose in disbelief, “ _Seriously?_ Shouldn’t you say that to Jun-kun instead? He’s the most mature, you know. You’re not drunk, are you?”  
  
“No, you don’t understand,” Sho shook his head, being serious himself as he purposely disregarded Nino’s last comment. “You instantly know when I’m worried, when I’m angry, when I’m annoyed—”  
  
“—when you’re drunk—”  
  
“— _and_ you don’t barge into my business when I don’t want you to,” Sho finished through his gritted teeth (he did not know admitting it to Nino would cause more trouble for him).  
  
“Meh,” Nino only shrugged, “I just don’t barge into your business because usually I don’t want you to barge _into mine_.”  
  
Sho glared at him. However, Nino’s sudden interruption registered into his consciousness. Then: “You _can tell_ when I’m drunk?”  
  
There on Nino’s face appeared a smirk with an appropriately accompanied scoff. “Of course, Sho-chan. Why wouldn’t I? You’re so flaily and clumsy when you’re drunk.”  
  
“You’re lying,” Sho monitored if Nino’s expression would change. It didn’t. He sighed in resignation. “How come no one’s told me that?”  
  
Nino stared off into space for a while, before it hit him. In actuality, he had been noticing that during these last ten years of his life, almost everyone had been afraid to take care of Sho. Like most people when intoxicated, he was mostly rowdy and careless, but what made him extra difficult to handle was that he often came across as too needy – he would ask for water, for a cooler room temperature (since he sweats so much) and for something to sit on so he wouldn’t fall on the floor – and that anyone who dared to even _think_ of nursing him would actually do so for at least one entire day. No one had wanted to tell Sho because they knew he would get offended, and he would possibly stop drinking anymore. And for Sho, that’s probably as hard as giving up more than half of the joy of attending social gatherings.  
  
And there’s the theory that people are most likely to say what they truly feel or be what they truly are when they are drunk. This might be the case with Sho as well.  
  
Nino then snapped out of his reverie and looked at Sho, who was now awaiting _his_ answer. “No one has ever told you because people like to take care of you, as much as you’ve wanted to care for others.”  
  
Sho had his forehead creased, trying to comprehend if Nino was telling him the truth or not.  
  
“What, you don’t believe me?” In fairness to Nino, he _had_ been telling the truth about people liking to take care of Sho.  
  
Nino then had this brilliant plan just popped into his head.  
  
\-------  
  
Ever since Sho had told Nino that the former was probably more comfortable when the latter was around rather than he’s with someone else, Nino suddenly had a secret urge to “experience” taking care of Sho. At first he merely wanted to know how Sho lived all his life being a mother-hen, but all-in-all, Nino knew Sho wanted to be taken care of himself. But because Nino recognized that it would be quite hard if Sho was conscious enough of his surroundings, the only way to execute his little plan was to get Sho at his most vulnerable: with a hint of alcohol on him. After all, it would not hurt anyone if he wanted to repay Sho for all the trouble he had caused him, whether Sho actually knew about all of those troubles or not.  
  
The only problem was how.  
  
“Sho-kun,” Nino approached Sho, who was reading a newspaper at the time, during on one of their magazine interviews. “Do you have any plans tonight?”  
  
Sho looked at the younger man a bit incredulously. “What are you up to?”  
  
“Why do you always think I’m going to screw with you?” Nino’s voice went up, just like it always did when he had nearly resolved to whining.  
  
“Because you can, and you _will_ ,” Sho simply laid down for him, making Nino sigh in utmost frustration.  
  
Maybe exaggerating the situation would finally persuade him, Nino thought. “I want to talk to you because I have a problem and if you don’t come with me I will still go drinking, _by myself_. I’m used to being alone anyway.”  
  
Sho’s eyes widened, surprised at what Nino told him. “Are you serious?”  
  
“Why would I joke about a problem?” Nino asked a rhetorical question with a straight face.  
  
Sho resigned, sighing. “Alright, fine. I’ll come with you.”  
  
\-------  
  
Later that evening, as planned, Nino took Sho to one of his favorite bars in Shibuya. Sho could clearly understand why it was Nino’s favorite: it was small but conveniently situated in the heart of the city, plus it only accommodated about 20 people at a time and had private rooms to provide alternative options for the guests.  
  
Upon entering the place, Nino immediately asked for one private room to one of the servers, who nodded even just as Nino called his attention (like he already knew what Nino wanted). The two proceeded to the room, ordered two bottles of beer for starters. The moment the waiter left, Sho knew it was his chance to ask Nino what had been bothering him for hours now.  
  
“So, Nino,” Sho began picked up Nino’s bottle and poured on his glass first, just like the usual thing he would do. “What did you want to talk about?”  
  
Nino lied when he told Sho about his career problems, like which Arashi promotional appearances he should prioritize, or what if he suddenly had a family emergency of some sort in the middle of a TV appearance because all he had wanted to do anyway was to get Sho drinking more than he could really take. He probably made up about four anecdotes just to get things going his way.  
  
Sho had already had his sixth bottle when Nino finally asked what his “question” actually was, and by that time Sho also had his speech slurred.  
  
“Ssho, wha d’ya mean?” Sho asked, his head slightly swaying back and forth. “And wha’s ssho hot in ‘ere?”  
  
In truth, Nino had asked the waiter to replace his third or so beer with tea so that no matter how much he drank afterwards, he would not even get a little intoxicated. It seemed to be working on his part, with the way he smirked at the scene before him.  
  
“I told you,” Nino moved his head closer to Sho in order for Sho to hear what he was saying. “This place does not have the best ventilation. And what I’m asking you is this: What if my sister suddenly ran away with his boyfriend and my mom ordered me to look for her? Can I abandon a TV shoot in case that happens?”  
  
“Can’.”  
  
“Can? Or _can’t_?”  
  
“Can’ttt,” Sho unintentionally emphasized. “Can I have sshum w’ter pleash? ‘Ts dang hot.”  
  
Nino snickered a bit. Sho, when drunk, was really pitiful, but if Nino would admit, it was quite adorable too. A vulnerable Sho would probably Nino’s most favorite kind of Sho.  
  
“I’ll get the temperature of the air conditioner up to ‘freeze’ or something,” Nino pressed a button on the remote beside him. “And some water too.” He stood up from his seiza position and called someone out with “Water please, for my wasted friend. Thank you,” before coming back in and sitting down again.  
  
“Waterrrr?”  
  
“Got it already,” Nino stood up again and sat down beside Sho this time. While the fun part of this whole thing was the way Nino had brilliantly succeeded in his plan – even with Sho suspecting – it warmed Nino’s heart to finally have his mischievousness towards Sho repaid in his own way. There was a huge possibility that Sho would not remember anything the next day, but Nino preferred it that way. Besides, it was fulfilling to finally take care of someone he loved very dearly.  
  
“Am shweat-chhh,” Sho slurred, accidentally laying his head on the younger man’s shoulder.  
  
Nino chuckled as he stroked a stray hair off of Sho’s face. “You’re _what_?”  
  
“Look!” Sho showed his neck and indeed, he had been sweating; a little too much in fact.  
  
Nino scoffed, smiling to himself. Of course Sho wanted him to do something about that neck drenched in perspiration. Drunken Sho would have wanted to, at least. Nino then swiftly got a towel from the table and wiped Sho’s neck with it.  
  
“Th’nksssh.”  
  
If Nino’s pouted (trademark) smile was any indication, he now knew _exactly_ why Sho had taken a liking to taking care of Arashi’s individual members like it was his own children (or family, however people actually perceived it). Simply put – it made Sho happy, knowing that it was his way of showing that he loved his bandmates more than any other colleague he had met in this industry. He had never expected anything; just seeing those smiles made him feel satisfied enough. And perhaps, he wanted someone to experience that too.  
  
Nino rolled his eyes, upon realizing this, for falling victim into Sho’s secret wish. Who would’ve thought, of all people, that _he_ would even _volunteer_ to take care of Sho?  
  
  
But, admittedly, Nino felt satisfied with it too. And if Sho was not drunk at all, Nino would have done more than just “take care” of Sho that night.


End file.
